More  than  150 participants  from  government,  multilateral  organizations, aid  agencies, civil  society,  parliamentarians  and academia have been meeting in Vienna on 12-13 November for  a  High-level  Symposium  on  “Accountable and Transparent Development Cooperation:  Towards a More Inclusive Framework”.

The symposium is part of the preparations for the next Development Cooperation Forum to be held in New York at the end of June 2010.

The  Under-Secretary-General  for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang said  the  theme of the symposium was an issue of the highest priority for the Forum:  “Building  a  more  inclusive  framework  for  accountable and transparent  development  cooperation  should serve to increase the quality and  impact – and thus the effectiveness – of development cooperation.”

Senior  policy-makers from developed and developing countries, including several  Ministers  have  been  participating  in  the Symposium as well as representatives  of  civil  society,  parliaments and local governments.

Discussions have  focused  primarily  on  the responsibilities of donors and recipient countries  (mutual accountability) in development cooperation; ways to make aid more predictable and less volatile, ways to increase the involvement of civil  society in the oversight of aid and how to enhance the impact of aid in   serving  the  poor,  including  making  development  cooperation more accessible.

The  event  has  been organized around eight sessions with country-based
case  studies,  panel  discussions and interactive dialogue, addressing the some   of   the  following  topics:  (i)  Promoting  mutual accountability mechanisms  at  the  global  and regional level; (ii) Mutual accountability reviews at the country level; (iii) DCF Stakeholder consultations on global and national mutual accountability and aid transparency; (iv) Strengthening international  aid  transparency and information-sharing.

The  two-day  symposium  was the first of several meetings planned in the run   up  to  the  2010  Economic  and  Social  Council  (ECOSOC) biennial Development   Cooperation   Forum,  a  body  tasked  to  review  trends in development  cooperation and improve coherence in the activities of various development cooperation actors.

At a time when the economic crisis puts development cooperation and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at risk, the DCF can help mobilize countries to scale up and make more effective use of aid in order to reach the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs.

Ukraine was presented at the High-level Symposium by First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Mr. Anatolii Maksiuta.

Meeting proceedings, summaries, and other official documents – are available through: http://www.un.org/ecosoc/newfunct/dcfvienna10.shtml.